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Hostess Brands Inc., the maker of iconic treats such as Twinkies and traditional pantry staple Wonder Bread, is shuttering its plants and liquidating its 82-year-old business.

A victim of changing consumer tastes, high commodity costs and, most importantly, strained labor relations, Hostess ultimately was brought to its knees by a national strike orchestrated by its second-largest union.

The work stoppage, launched Nov. 9 by the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers Union to protest a fresh labor contract, affected about two-thirds of Hostess's 36 plants. The strike was making it impossible for the Irving, Tex., company to continue producing its baked goods, Chief Executive Gregory Rayburn said.

The CEO, a restructuring professional who ascended to the top of the company after its former leader abruptly resigned earlier this year, said the liquidation will take months but require few workers.

Hostess is the poster child of garbage food. It's not surprising that some would see its passing as inevitable. People are demanding higher quality food these days. Few people want their kids eating stuff which ingredients they can't pronounce, high fructose corn syrup, and a shelf life of 12 years.

Hostess is the poster child of garbage food. It's not surprising that some would see its passing as inevitable. People are demanding higher quality food these days. Few people want their kids eating stuff which ingredients they can't pronounce, high fructose corn syrup, and a shelf life of 12 years.

My dad used to hide Ding Dongs for me in his closet whenever my mom put me on a diet when I was a kid. I haven't bought any in a long time, but they are so good. It's too bad. Hostess bought out Dolly Madison a while back, so Zingers will also be gone.

It's also a sad day for the defense attorney who represented Dan White. No more Twinkie defense!

Lets not forget they make wonder bread as well, not just junk food. What saddens me is that only about a third of the workforce of hostess forced a strike, most didn't want to go. They didn't want a 8% cut in pay, how do they feel now to a 100% cut in pay?

Lets not forget they make wonder bread as well, not just junk food. What saddens me is that only about a third of the workforce of hostess forced a strike, most didn't want to go. They didn't want a 8% cut in pay, how do they feel now to a 100% cut in pay?

Not even a third: less than 5000 of the 18.5K Hostess workers are represented by this union, who just crashed the school bus into a tree on purpose. The Teamsters were begging these guys to go back to work, and they just stubbornly refused to even consider it.

Now, out here in the real world, without union representation (I am in one of the very few businesses in existence that is federally barred from unionizing), the rest of us have to take pay cuts in hard times all the time. I'd damn sure rather have an 8% pay cut instead of a 100% pay cut.

I'm pretty sure it isn't in the law anywhere, but it should be: if you strike yourself out of a job, you get NOTHING. No unemployment. No food stamps. No welfare. No Section 8. NOTHING. You did this entirely to yourself, so fuck you very much. Go flip burgers instead, you leech.